Mothers Against Drunk Driving presented an award to the Rocklin Police Department after officers competed against other departments to raise money for anti-drunk driving campaigns and services.

MADD Program Specialist Silas Miers presented a statue of a peace officer to Rocklin Police Chief Mark Siemens at last week’s city council meeting.

“It broke the hearts of the Elk Grove Police Department who were in the lead,” Miers said.

Miers said Elk Grove police were the two-time defending champions and they had been leading throughout the competition. It was the first time for Rocklin.

Rocklin Officer Michael Alway helped his department get organized to raise more than $3,300 for the annual “Walk Like MADD,” held in Sacramento on Oct. 17. Volunteers Michelle Rowberry, Patti Lewis and their families represented Rocklin at the walk/run event.

“I put an interdepartmental competition together. Whoever donated or raised the most money could get a pizza party at the end,” Alway said.

Alway said pizza was very motivating to the officers. The weekend graveyard shift came up with a surge of $1,800 against the officers from the weekend day watch shift who had been leading until the end. Miers amused the council by telling them how his 82-year-old grandmother and longtime resident of Rocklin reacted to the award announcement.

“She lived in Rocklin since 1958. When I told my grandma that Rocklin Police Department had won the competition this year she said, and I quote, ‘that’s pretty neat,’” Miers said.

Three out of every 10 Americans will be directly affected by a drunk driver in a crash, according to MADD.

“In this city alone it is probably much higher than that with the loss of Officer Matt Redding in 2005,” Miers said. ”Rocklin PD understands the fight to remove the impaired driver from the roadway.”

Officer Redding was the recipient of the MADD Award in 2004 for having the most DUI arrests in Placer County. He died in the line of duty after being hit by a hit and run drunk driver on Highway 65 on Oct. 9, 2005.

Mayor Scott Yuill said he was pleased with the department’s participation in the fundraising campaign.

“Rocklin’s awareness of the dreadful effects that drunk driving inflicts on a community will always be heightened because of our tragic loss of Officer Redding,” Yuill said. “I extend a congratulations and my gratitude to all law enforcement everywhere who participated in this fundraising effort.”

His family started the Matt Redding Foundation to support education for police officers and scholarships for graduating high school seniors.

Alway said officers will be gunning for Elk Grove again next year.

“We’ve already developed a plan and we will put that into place when the time comes,” Alway said.

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